Judiciary appeals for more money

By Andy Metzger, State House News Service

Updated:
02/22/2013 09:42:31 AM EST

WORCESTER -- Emerging from a four-year hiring freeze that started to thaw last fall, top officials in the judiciary warned legislators Wednesday that without more funding, the rule of law itself is at risk.

"I know that you're accustomed to hearing everyone come through and say, 'We need more money.' Well, we need more money, but we're not a state agency. And I want to emphasize that with you. We're a branch of government," Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland told members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means during a budget hearing at Worcester State University. "In theory, we're an independent branch of government."

Budgetary constrictions have sunk judges pay, as adjusted for cost of living, to 48th in the nation, including Washington, D.C., Ireland said. Falling staffing levels caused by attrition and the hiring freeze have caused 44 courthouses to reduce their hours, according to Trial Court Administrator Harry Spence. Court managers were recently at risk of union employees surpassing their pay, Spence said.

Ireland, who dispensed with his prepared remarks, beseeched the committee to add more funding to allow judicial pay raises and more hiring.

"We have not had a pay raise in over seven years; one in the last 14 years," Ireland said.

He said, "The judges have, I think, gone a very long period of time, and fair is fair."

According to the National Center for State Courts, Massachusetts trial court judges make $129,694 annually, which ranks 31st in the nation, and 48th, just behind Oregon and ahead of Vermont, Maine and Hawaii once cost of living is factored in.

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SJC judges rank 30th and Massachusetts Appeals Court judges rank 28th, according to the report, which uses July 2012 data.

On judicial pay, Ireland may have found an ally in the governor's office. Patrick has called on lawmakers to create an advisory commission to study court realignment and judicial salaries. In her prepared testimony to lawmakers, Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral said judicial salaries are among the lowest in the nation when adjusted for inflation.

"This advisory commission will lay the groundwork to begin to address this imbalance by analyzing cost of living, salaries of comparable judges in other states, and other factors," Cabral said. She added that the goal of court realignment is to close or re-align at least 15 courts over the next ten years.

Joined by other chief justices and Spence in seeking more funding, Ireland asked for $12 million more for the judiciary than what was contained in Gov. Deval Patrick's budget.

Patrick's courts budget adds roughly $27 million in spending over the roughly $589 million in projected spending in fiscal year 2013 within the SJC, Appeals Court and Trial Court. The bulk of the judiciary's requested additional spending is for the Trial Court, which the governor's budget increases by $16.6 million over the $561 million included in the fiscal year 2013 budget.

Spence said the governor's budget looks like a "big leap" but includes only an additional $1 million in discretionary spending, in part because "the administration did not include funding for collective bargaining agreements in the current fiscal year."

In the past five years, the judiciary, which made up only 9 percent of the state's workforce, took on 22 percent of cuts to the state's workforce, dropping by 1,360 employees since 2007.

"I don't think that our constituents - if they knew about it - would support the level of cuts that have come down already, and would happen next year. And I don't think they're aware of them," said Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville).

Jehlen also noted that the judiciary is seeking more funding on top of Patrick's budget, which already relies on new revenue that has inspired "resistance" from constituents as well.

"I say to you the rule of law really is in jeopardy," Trial Court Chief Justice Mulligan told the committee, noting that without enough court officers witnesses might not feel secure after offering testimony, and without enough court staff people are not guaranteed a "speedy" trial.

Lawmakers did not challenge the judges on the financial situation they described.

Last year, the court started filling some positions, mostly court officers, Ireland said. Ireland said he is seeking a "modest increase," bringing the judiciary's staff to 6,450, which would be 1,200 fewer positions than the 2007.

Spence, who was appointed to the new administrator position last spring, said that hopefully in two or three years, the judiciary could reach sufficient staffing levels and modernize itself. Spence also laid out benefits that increased funding would pay for, including $1 million to return normal operating hours to courthouses, $500,000 to open 20 drug courts statewide, and $2.47 million to hire 84 court officers and hardware.

In his prepared remarks, Ireland noted that the courts have "committed to absorb" costs associated with the Hinton crime lab - where chemist Annie Dookhan allegedly manipulated drug evidence throwing thousands of convictions into question and leading to special "Dookhan" courts to handle defendants whose cases were tied up with Dookhan.

"Those people haven't even been identified yet," said Committee for Public Counsel Services Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti during his own testimony before the committee about the costs of handling Dookhan cases. He said that her actions - which allegedly included identifying drugs by sight, corrupting evidence so it tested positive as drugs and lying about her resume - should call into question all of the cases processed at the now shuttered Jamaica Plain lab. Benedetti said, "This is a much bigger problem than one person."

Mulligan said the trial court has undertaken "every considerable cost saving measure," noting that the court canceled bottled water and required judges to pay their own copying cost for educational materials. More than 90 percent of judges elected to forfeit five days' pay "so no one in the trenches would be laid off," he said.

Ireland noted the courts are "a 24-hour system as well," with judges on call to handle emergency restraining orders and other matters.

The hearing room filled with laughter after Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield) poked fun at the last step in any individuals' successful quest for a judgeship, an appearance before a sometimes raucous eight-member elected body that confirms or rejects the appointment.

"I guess I would just add this piece about judicial salaries: I don't know if there's enough money to go before the Governor's Council," Downing said.

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